Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 173 | Wed 22 Aug 2012
PAKISTAN: INTOLERANCE GROWS; CHILD ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY
(plus IRAN: Nadarkhani update)
By Elizabeth Kendal
Pakistan celebrated its 65th birthday on 14 August. Founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a member of the Shia religious minority, Pakistan was initially established on a foundation of secularism and equal rights for all. Today, however, after decades of Saudi-sponsored Islamisation, Pakistan is the exact opposite of what it was founded to be. Abductions of Christian and Hindu girls are on the rise. According to the parents, these young girls are being forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men. According to the Islamists, none of the conversions have been forced. The rise in incidence has triggered debate in the media and a Hindu exodus from Sindh Province, prompting President Zardari to call for a law banning forced conversions. Sunni jihadist violence against the Shia minority has also increased. On 16 August a bus en route to Gilgit was stopped by men in military uniforms just 100km north of Islamabad. The 'officers' then dragged at least 20 Shi'ites from the bus and executed them. It was the third such attack on that road in six months. As a minority throughout the South Asian sub-continent, Christians are the most vulnerable of all.
In June 2009 a Christian woman Asia Bibi (41, married mother of five) was abused before being accused of blasphemy and arrested. In November 2010 a court sentenced her to death by hanging. Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti (a Christian religious freedom activist) were both assassinated in early 2011 (January and March respectively) for opposing the blasphemy law and publicly supporting Asia Bibi.
On Thursday 16 August 2012 Rimsha (11), daughter of Misrak Masih, a resident of the Meherabadi Christian slum colony on the outskirts of Islamabad, was arrested on charges of blasphemy. Initially, police had been reluctant to act on the complaint because the accused is merely a child. However, after hundreds of enraged local Muslims surrounded the police station, blocked the Kashmir Highway for hours and threatened to take matters into their own hands, police took Rimsha, her mother and her sister into 'protective custody' -- they had been severely beaten by the mob. Not only is Rimsha a juvenile, she is illiterate and mentally impaired. Her mental impairment has left her unable to go to school or mix with other children. Consequently Rimsha spends her days wandering through the slum. Reportedly, locals complained that Rimsha had been 'moving suspiciously' in the district, carrying a 'shopping bag'. Actually she had been collecting papers from garbage bins to use as fuel in the family's stove. When suspicious Muslims entered Rimsha's home, they allegedly found her holding burnt pages which had Islamic text and Qur'anic verses printed on them. (They were pages from the Noorani Qaida, a Qur'an reading education program.) At that point, Syed Muhammad Umma was sent to register a complaint against the child.
On Friday 17 August the court ruled that Rimsha be remanded in custody for 14 days, pending further investigation. Understandably, Rimsha is confused and traumatised. Death threats from fundamentalist Muslims have driven over 300 members of the neighbourhood's Christian community to flee for their lives. (Some reports put the figure as high as 1000.) The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) is providing assistance to the displaced Christians. Paul Bhatti, the National Harmony Minister, APMA Chairman and brother of the martyred activist Shahbaz Bhatti, has appealed to Islamic clerics and police to bring the situation under control as there has been widespread looting.
Leading political figures such as President Asif Ali Zardari and opposition politician Imran Khan have spoken out against the 'shameful' and 'un-Islamic . . . abuse' of the blasphemy law. Whether they are courageous enough to take on the Islamists who have martyred previous anti-blasphemy advocates is another matter. However, this is not just about law. The problem is profound, deeply ingrained, ideological, religious hatred. Rimsha and her family -- like Asia and her family -- will need asylum in the West if they are to survive this.
For more on the plight of Pakistan's religious minorities, visit:
Heart And Soul (BBC radio)
"The Trouble with Pakistan's White Stripe"
Mobeen Azhar looks at the growing persecution of minorities and the power of fundamental Islamists in Pakistan. (Two excellent 28 minute audio programmes)
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL --
* be a very real and present source of strength, comfort and protection to young Christian girls who have been abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men; may they not lose faith or hope; and may the LORD rescue and restore them for his name's sake.
'For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.' (Isaiah 30:18b ESV)
* intervene for Asia Bibi and her family and for Rishma and her family, so these gravely imperilled believers might be free to live in security.
* redeem all this appalling suffering, and use it to shame and awaken Pakistani Muslims to the ugliness that has engulfed them, softening their hearts to the Good News so that they and even their whole communities can be radically transformed. (Isaiah 2:2-4)
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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PAKISTAN: INTOLERANCE GROWS; CHILD ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY
Decades of Saudi-sponsored Islamisation have turned Pakistan ugly. Violence against religious minorities is constantly on the rise. There has been an increase in the number of young Hindu and Christian girls being abducted, forcibly converted and married off to Muslim men, whilst the blasphemy law continues to be wielded as a weapon of persecution. On 16 August, an illiterate, mentally impaired 11-year-old girl, Rimsha, burnt papers collected from local bins as fuel in the family stove. She was arrested because the papers reportedly bore Qur'anic verses. Rimsha, her mother and sister have been taken from their home in a Christian colony on the outskirts of Islamabad into 'protective custody', pending investigation. Pakistan is simmering with religious hatred. Please pray for Pakistan's besieged and imperilled Christians.
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IRAN: URGENT UPDATE ON PASTOR NADARKHANI
Reportedly, Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani (34, married with two sons), who was sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010, will be re-tried on 27 August (although some reports say 8 September). This time the charges are 'banditry and extortion'. The regime is possibly seeking to convince Nadarkhani's supporters that he is a criminal unworthy of their support. Alternatively, by launching a new trial with unprovable accusations, the regime may be seeking to 'wash its hands' publicly of Nadarkhani and release him to the Islamists and secret police while declaring itself 'innocent of this man's blood' (after the manner of Pontius Pilate in Matthew 27:24, as has happened before in Iran). No matter what happens, Youcef Nadarkhani and his family will be greatly in need of our prayers. Please pray for Iran's Christian prisoners.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
RLPB 172. Ivory Coast: thousands displaced in renewed terror
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 172 | Wed 15 Aug 2012
IVORY COAST: THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN RENEWED TERROR
By Elizabeth Kendal
In early December 2010, disputed elections left Ivory Coast with two Prime Ministers. After Alassane Ouattara declared himself the winner, the Constitutional Council declared Laurent Gbagbo the winner. Alassane Ouattara's rebel forces then moved (with French backing) to take power by force. In March 2011, at the height of the crisis, pro-Ouattara Muslim rebels, whose tribal origins lie in the north, rampaged through western Ivory Coast. They massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of mostly ethnic Guéré, the traditional landowners who are predominantly Christian and supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. By early April 2011, the Catholic mission in Duékoué was hosting more than 27,000 severely traumatised, mostly Christian and ethnic Guéré refugees.
The displaced Guéré have been unable to return home because their homes have been occupied by 'rebels' -- i.e. by pro-Ouattara militiamen who have since been taken into the new Ivorian Army, the FRCI (Forces Républicaines de la Côte d’Ivoire). Furthermore, the west remains incredibly dangerous, over-run by armed criminals and undisciplined 'soldiers', as well as with 'dozos' -- traditional hunters who work as mercenary enforcers for the FRCI. While many displaced Guéré have been able to find refuge with friends and family elsewhere, over 5000 have been settled in the nearby Nahibly camp guarded by UN peacekeepers.
On the night of 19 July 2012 four ethnic Malinké (Muslims) were killed during an armed robbery in Duékoué's Kokoma neighbourhood. The next day, a massive crowd of 'dozos' and ethnic Malinké, along with other Muslim tribes, descended on the nearby Nahibly camp supposedly to enact 'revenge'. (Numbers vary widely, but according to Ann Encontre, head of the UN refugee arm UNHCR in Ivory Coast, the attackers numbered around 3000.) At least eleven Guéré refugees were killed and more than 60 wounded as the invaders, armed with machetes, clubs and rifles, attacked the inhabitants, doused the camp in petrol and burnt it to the ground. The UN 'peacekeepers' have explained that they did not fire on the invaders because they wanted to avoid 'a massacre'. Terrified refugees, who fled to 'peacekeepers' for assistance, report being chased away or pushed into the arms of their attackers who then beat them mercilessly in front of the 'peacekeepers'. According to the UN, Ivorian security forces are supposed to be responsible for security at the camp but none were present. The attack forced some 5000 predominantly Christian ethnic Guéré refugees to flee into the ungoverned, inhospitable bush.
Bah Léontine, who managed to escape with her family, says the attackers screamed: 'No Guéré moves! No Guéré moves! If you move we will kill you.' She said, 'The war is over, why are you still pursuing us?' They replied, 'We don't want to see Guéré in Duekoue.' Bah managed to get her family safely into the bush, where they hid for three days before finding refuge in the town hall in Duékoué. 'It's God who saved us,' she says. Other survivors fled back to the Catholic mission in Duékoué. However, the priest has reported that the mission has also been threatened by 'crowds of angry youths'. The UN human rights agency has condemned the Nahibly attack which it says was 'clearly ethnically motivated'.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL --
* draw his people close to him, comfort them and increase their faith, answering their prayers and supplying their every need for food, shelter, medical aid, security, wisdom and spiritual guidance.
* revive his Church so that Ivorian Christians will not lose hope but will rediscover the power and grace of God -- the very same God who totally transformed their nation 100 years ago.
In 1913-14, when Ivory Coast's population was estimated at less than one million, the Liberian evangelist William Wadé Harris baptised over 100,000 new converts over 18 months. The population of Ivory Coast today is some 20 million. Pray for revival and that God will send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38). Pray for two million converts during 2013-14.
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN RENEWED TERROR IN IVORY COAST
In March 2011 tens of thousands of predominantly Christian Guéré were ethnically cleansed from their lands in western Ivory Coast by Muslim rebels loyal to presidential aspirant Alassane Ouattara. The Guéré have never been able to return because their homes have been occupied by Muslims. Some 5000 Guéré who remain displaced have been living in the Nahibly camp in Duékoué, which is protected by UN peacekeepers. A massive Muslim mob stormed the camp on 19 July 2012. Armed with clubs, machetes and rifles, they killed at least eleven refugees, wounded 60 and burnt the camp to the ground, leaving the 5000 mostly Christian ethnic Guéré displaced yet again. The UN has condemned the attack that it says was 'clearly ethnically motivated'. Please pray for Christians in Ivory Coast.
IVORY COAST: THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN RENEWED TERROR
By Elizabeth Kendal
In early December 2010, disputed elections left Ivory Coast with two Prime Ministers. After Alassane Ouattara declared himself the winner, the Constitutional Council declared Laurent Gbagbo the winner. Alassane Ouattara's rebel forces then moved (with French backing) to take power by force. In March 2011, at the height of the crisis, pro-Ouattara Muslim rebels, whose tribal origins lie in the north, rampaged through western Ivory Coast. They massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of mostly ethnic Guéré, the traditional landowners who are predominantly Christian and supporters of Laurent Gbagbo. By early April 2011, the Catholic mission in Duékoué was hosting more than 27,000 severely traumatised, mostly Christian and ethnic Guéré refugees.
The displaced Guéré have been unable to return home because their homes have been occupied by 'rebels' -- i.e. by pro-Ouattara militiamen who have since been taken into the new Ivorian Army, the FRCI (Forces Républicaines de la Côte d’Ivoire). Furthermore, the west remains incredibly dangerous, over-run by armed criminals and undisciplined 'soldiers', as well as with 'dozos' -- traditional hunters who work as mercenary enforcers for the FRCI. While many displaced Guéré have been able to find refuge with friends and family elsewhere, over 5000 have been settled in the nearby Nahibly camp guarded by UN peacekeepers.
On the night of 19 July 2012 four ethnic Malinké (Muslims) were killed during an armed robbery in Duékoué's Kokoma neighbourhood. The next day, a massive crowd of 'dozos' and ethnic Malinké, along with other Muslim tribes, descended on the nearby Nahibly camp supposedly to enact 'revenge'. (Numbers vary widely, but according to Ann Encontre, head of the UN refugee arm UNHCR in Ivory Coast, the attackers numbered around 3000.) At least eleven Guéré refugees were killed and more than 60 wounded as the invaders, armed with machetes, clubs and rifles, attacked the inhabitants, doused the camp in petrol and burnt it to the ground. The UN 'peacekeepers' have explained that they did not fire on the invaders because they wanted to avoid 'a massacre'. Terrified refugees, who fled to 'peacekeepers' for assistance, report being chased away or pushed into the arms of their attackers who then beat them mercilessly in front of the 'peacekeepers'. According to the UN, Ivorian security forces are supposed to be responsible for security at the camp but none were present. The attack forced some 5000 predominantly Christian ethnic Guéré refugees to flee into the ungoverned, inhospitable bush.
Bah Léontine, who managed to escape with her family, says the attackers screamed: 'No Guéré moves! No Guéré moves! If you move we will kill you.' She said, 'The war is over, why are you still pursuing us?' They replied, 'We don't want to see Guéré in Duekoue.' Bah managed to get her family safely into the bush, where they hid for three days before finding refuge in the town hall in Duékoué. 'It's God who saved us,' she says. Other survivors fled back to the Catholic mission in Duékoué. However, the priest has reported that the mission has also been threatened by 'crowds of angry youths'. The UN human rights agency has condemned the Nahibly attack which it says was 'clearly ethnically motivated'.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL --
* draw his people close to him, comfort them and increase their faith, answering their prayers and supplying their every need for food, shelter, medical aid, security, wisdom and spiritual guidance.
* revive his Church so that Ivorian Christians will not lose hope but will rediscover the power and grace of God -- the very same God who totally transformed their nation 100 years ago.
In 1913-14, when Ivory Coast's population was estimated at less than one million, the Liberian evangelist William Wadé Harris baptised over 100,000 new converts over 18 months. The population of Ivory Coast today is some 20 million. Pray for revival and that God will send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38). Pray for two million converts during 2013-14.
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN RENEWED TERROR IN IVORY COAST
In March 2011 tens of thousands of predominantly Christian Guéré were ethnically cleansed from their lands in western Ivory Coast by Muslim rebels loyal to presidential aspirant Alassane Ouattara. The Guéré have never been able to return because their homes have been occupied by Muslims. Some 5000 Guéré who remain displaced have been living in the Nahibly camp in Duékoué, which is protected by UN peacekeepers. A massive Muslim mob stormed the camp on 19 July 2012. Armed with clubs, machetes and rifles, they killed at least eleven refugees, wounded 60 and burnt the camp to the ground, leaving the 5000 mostly Christian ethnic Guéré displaced yet again. The UN has condemned the attack that it says was 'clearly ethnically motivated'. Please pray for Christians in Ivory Coast.
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